The Infestation: Beginnings
by Torlo50
Summary: This story is inspired by East Bridge. I would name others, but East Bridge is the absolute original of this Sub-Genre of Starcraft stories. A man in his early twenties is forced to deal with unimaginable events, leading him to change Earth... and beyond. Advance Disclaimer: As much I would like it to be otherwise, I do not own Starcraft, but I do own my original creations.
1. Prequel

Prequel

I awoke. There is nothing else to describe what happened. For you see, I never opened my eyes. I simply _knew _that I was awake. I could feel in a way… not with human touch, human taste, or any other human sense, but with my own thought. I felt like a pellet upon a storm, with nothing holding me to the ground. It was then that I tried to open my eyes. I couldn't! Why couldn't I? What was happening? Where was I? Who am I? I was on the point of going insane… when I heard a voice.

"_Do not worry about this. It is new, but you fill soon feel the power in store for you. You will fight, or you will die, it matters not. For upon the land that your old people have fought, your new people will be felt. You will be there to transform the old, into something new."_

I screamed, but I had no voice. I wanted to say something back, anything at all, but I could form no words. I was in a nightmare, upon the winds of fate. I lost all matter of thought and feeling, losing myself in the void.

I am awake. It is hot. I'm on something grainy, I can feel it all over my back… my legs… and... I'm naked?! I open my eyes and scramble up. All I see is sand. For miles. Sand. There weren't any buildings, people, or machines. There was dune's, and I'm not talking like the miniature things in small deserts, these were HUGE. They looked like mountains, even if they couldn't be that tall, could they? There were dunes of every type. I was on top of one of these, a star dune 650 ft. tall, give or take. Considering I'm a little over 6 ft. tall, I feel a little small. The winds were strong, buffering me every which way.

I feel so alone… I have never felt this alone before. I yearned for… for something… I screamed. It was a low, feral scream of rage. The wind took my scream and hollered it at the sky. Nothing happened. No one answered.


	2. Introduction

Introduction

My name is John. I work at a Wal-Mart part-time in downtown Indianapolis. I live in an apartment, where I spend most of my time. I am a junior in college, and still have no particular goal for my life. That is my story on the start of October 12th, 2017. I wake up in bed to my stupid alarm. I always want to turn it off, but I know better. It is Monday, and I have work today. Work is never fun, it just doesn't change. I haven't faced anything new for two years. I suppose there was the time that some kid threw a stool into the fish tanks. Said he just wanted to play with the "fishies". Unfortunately, this wasn't new; it was just my surprise that a 12 year old did it that time. Last time it was a 7 year old, close enough to 6 years old to be treated like a 6 year old, capable of no fault.

That is enough musing, I ordered myself. This is just your excuse to stay sitting on your bed. I take a shower, grab some clothes, make a good breakfast (the one thing I'm good at is breakfast, oh and doing nothing, I'm good at that too). Work isn't too far from home, and I decided my lazy butt needed some exercise, so I decided to walk. Sure it's a mile, but that isn't that long, really. I went out an hour before I need to be there, sure to be early. This was before the drive-by.

I was walking on the side walk, minding my own business. I was currently walking next to a group of guys playing basketball. I didn't really know them, but I didn't bother them, and they didn't bother me. Suddenly, there are tires squealing behind me. I, like any other untrained human (without military, or at least police training), simply turned around to see what it was. It was a black ford, and it was coming across the street fast. I mean, seriously, it was 25 mph through this area as a speed limit, and whoever this was, they were a speed demon going 60. Then one of the back windows rolled down, and an arm with some sort of gun attached leaned out. I remember this clearly. It is shocking what you remember in moments like this, and how you slowly forget everything else. It looked like some sort of sub-machine gun (I am an avid video game player and, if nothing else, Call of Duty, Ghost Recon, Rainbow, and Battlefield, among others, all taught me what guns looked like, and give me a general idea of what type one was by looking at it), and it started spitting fire. Like many a dumb human, I stood there in shock. This always happened to somebody else! Eternity passed, and the car got near where I was, and my instincts, if not my senses, returned to me enough to run for cover. There was none to be had. I felt something go over my shoulder, and something tear into my back, again, and again. I slammed into the concrete. The last thing I remember thinking was... "_Why me_?" before all went black.

I briefly, remember the rush to the hospital. It was a little stretched out, without me having a clear sense of time. I do remember the doctors saying comments like "Lucky he survived, or maybe unlucky, we could just be prolonging his life for a few hours," and "Two bullets through the chest and still breathing, poor bastard. He won't make it." I saw needles and faces, and then all went dark again.

There, in that darkness, is when I heard the voice…


	3. Where am I?

**Chapter 1**

"How am I not dead?" I have stood upon my mountain of sand, watching the nothingness that is life here. There is no water, there is no food. I have not eaten. 7 days and nights have passed as I stand here. I see this world, begging for my purpose. I am as still as a statue, immobile as a mountain. Then I feel something. I feel **powerful. **I get down, not even realizing my own actions, and kiss the sand at my feet. Something passes my lips. A purple mist flows down, and grabs the ground. It smells like blood, and yet, I know there is nothing wrong. Is the blood around a baby after birth a terrible thing? Is the arm cut off to safe a life bad?

Where this mist touches, it _solidifies. _I have created a new substance. "How did I do this?" I stare at it. It almost recedes into the sand, but I grabbed it, and let go immediately. The stuff was like a strong jelly, and it felt a little gross. I grabbed it again to stop it from falling into the sand, and its hold on reality grew stronger. Indeed, after a few more moments I let go, and the substance grabbed the sand, staying there by its own power. I sit down and lean a lot closer. It was a dark purple, and seemed grow. Slowly, but steadily, there is more substance there then there was before. It was like watching a cloud move across the sky. A cloud moves so slowly that it is almost unknowable, but, if you watched closely, any cloud can be seen moving across the sky. It was almost like this thing, was _creeping _across the grounds. I then smiled, knowing all was right in the world. I then promptly felt the drain on my body. I pitched face first into this substance, and promptly fell unconscious.

Upon my awakening, I notice I was no longer lying on sand. "Could it be all a bad dream?" But no, as I get up, I find myself lying on my new substance. It covered the crest of the Star dune I was on! It had an unusual effect on the environment, as the dune was no longer blowing as much sand around. The stuff, which I decided to call creep for its appearance of_ creeping_ across the ground, was getting between the winds and the sand, making a new ground. I'm shocked that it didn't, as the creep must still be pretty thin, as it is newborn, and the winds really are strong. I reach down to test my theory and try to grab it, and end up pulling up a lot of the stuff in a ball. There was sand underneath, but this creep was starting to really thicken up, and not be flimsy as when I first made it.

Then it really hit me. "I made this?" "How could I?" "What is this really?" I start to panic, and my body shutdowns. I put myself down on the creep, and go immobile. In my mind, I search my life, and see it flash before my eyes. I was a waste, with nothing in my future but a simple human life, no greater or worse than those around me. I had my faults, but I wasn't all bad. I was mostly a loner, out on my own, bound to probably stay alone, if only in my own thoughts. Then, I come upon the memory of the voice, and I feel an urging. I get up, walk to the center of the dune. There, in the center of the creep, I got on my knees, and put both hand on the ground, hanged my head, closed my eyes, and let my energy flow. After this, I almost passed out again, but I felt stronger than before, and did not. In between my hands, on the creep, did some sort of mucus puddle up, and form a very, very tiny cocoon. "What the hell is that?!" It appeared to beat like a heart, but it was no bigger then the tip of my finger! "What am I suppose to do now?" I said, hoping another urge would come to me. Nothing came to me, so I guess my random guidance was giving out.

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A/N: For the uneducated, a Star dune is a dune that the winds of the desert come together at this area, building up sands around a central location, with "arms" flowing out and curving to the desert floor. This is a rudimentary description, and look up pictures through your favorite search engine to find out more.

P.S.: I know this is off to a slow start, or at least, it is to me. Please be patient with me, and keep reading.

P.S.S. Oh, and some constructive reviews would be nice! Thank all who have read this, whether you like it or not.

*Update: There was really nothing new here, just a change at the end to bring it more into the next chapter.


	4. The First Building

I decided to watch the cocoon. To the best as I can describe it, it looks like a really small bubble of creep, but you can almost see into it. I thought about just walking away, but it would seem irresponsible of me to just leave some substance that I created just sitting there, growing and growing. The creep had almost covered the entire dune as I waited, and it seemed to not be slowing down. "Will this stuff ever stop?" I asked aloud, "Who knows, maybe it will cover all of Earth!" I look around again… "If this is Earth, I haven't seen any sign of civilization yet." As I wait, the cocoon gets bigger. By the end of the day, it was as tall as me, and about as wide as a couch. "So this stuff grows too? Figures," I say to no one.

I'm now assaulted with one of mankind's ultimate enemies… boredom. All through the night I just watch and watch and watch, my cocoon swelling to the size of a large house by daybreak the next day. You could clearly see something swirling inside of it, some sort of liquid. It was purple, but a very light purple. Streaks of green can be seen in the liquid, more and more often with each passing hour.

In the mid-day heat, the cocoon, now the size of a two-story house, burst open. Scraps of some sort of skin and lots of liquid washed over me and the rest the dune crest. "Ahh, it's in my eyes." I scream as I rapidly try to get it out. To my surprise, I can soon see again… and am perfectly dry. I look down just in time to see the rest of the liquid and scraps of skin get absorbed into my skin, with the creep absorbing the rest in a similar manner. In front of me I some sort of structure, but it was like some sort of structure like I had ever seen. I can only call it a building based on its size. There is a large base in the shape of a circle, with some sort of mass growing up from there in a cone-like shape. The top if it wasn't a point, but more like the top of a tower. There are large tusks sprouting at the top, curving in towards the top, and several larger tusks out near the bottom, curving upwards. The walls are red-orange, and they look like they are made of flesh. I looked closely, and could see what looked like veins in them, pumping something around inside the walls. The top swayed, which wasn't surprising concerning the wind, but it seemed to sway in a pattern, regardless of the way the wind was blowing. In front of me, there was a spot on the wall that looked like an entrance. This was an area where there was a circular hole in the wall, but had another, pinker wall of flesh set slightly further in There was some variety in color, ranging from red to pink in different spots, but it was mostly about in the middle of the two. This inwards wall looked like it was created from overlapping folds of skin, each fold an isosceles triangle with its base on the outside, and every triangle ending with a tooth that curved inwards. These teeth met a central point, and overlapped one another.

"Well, what have I managed to get myself into?" I wondered, "Guess there is nothing for it but to get closure and see if I can get inside. Ten bucks says there isn't a doorknob there." I walk forward and into the gaping hole, which suddenly reminded me of a gaping mouth. "Well, isn't that a comforting thought? Better hurry up or I'll never have the nerve to try this again." I told myself sternly. I continue towards what had decided was the door, and, when I got only 6 inches away, the door opened. All the folds of skin retract into the wall with a swish, allowing my access. "Automatic doors, how luxurious," I say, just trying to keep my mind of the whole being eaten concept. I step through the door, and take a few steps, before hearing the swish again, signaling the closing of the door. I almost panic, with the whole thought of being digested coming into my mind; I hurl myself toward the door, hoping against logic that I could break out. To my surprise, the door opens up again as I come close to it again, and I don't hit the resistance I was expecting and promptly find that I have thrown me to the ground outside. "I have done stupid things in my life, but I'm glad no one saw that one," I said, clearly embarrassed. I get up, and head back through the door, much more confident that I could get out again.

When I get back inside I take a look around. After a foot or so after walking through a tunnel of flesh, of the pinkish variety, I emerge into some sort of chamber. There was only one entrance that I could see, and that was the one I had come through. Around the edges of the chamber were little curved depressions about the length of a leg, but width of a body. The depressions started on the wall, and curved down into the floor. In-between each depression was a divider a flesh that stuck out like a sore thumb. In the middle of the chamber is a spire of flesh that had four thin pieces of flesh coming down from the top to exponentially curve out toward the floor, eventually becoming one with it.

"That looks important," I said, saying the obvious. I walk toward the spire, and tentatively touch my hand to it. As soon as my hand makes contact I hear a voice, _"Welcome Overmind."_ I hear this in my mind, just before my head explodes with information.

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A/N: I'll be taking suggestions as well, so please tell me in a review anything you might want to see in the story. There is no guarantee anything will come of it, but if I use your idea, I'll credit it to you down here on the chapter I use the idea. Forewarning, the idea might be radically changed in its final form that I decide upon.


	5. Learning the Ropes

A/N: The main character's thoughts are italicized and underlined, while any other beings thoughts are just italicized. All thought communication that is meant as such for conversation will have quotation marks. If anyone can think of a better system, please write a review and put the basics of such a system there. I probably won't rewrite this chapter with such a system for a long time, but I might, if I like it, use it for other chapters.

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**Chapter 3**

I couldn't think. How could somebody think if they are having their senses overwhelmed by the information coming into their brain? I couldn't assimilate the information. It was just too much all at once. The information flow stopped, and I tried to sort out what the information was_. __Apparently, I'm in something called a "Hatchery."__What does it hatch?_ No sooner do I think this then I sense the huge informational data flow starting up again. _Not again!_The information stopped. I felt some sort of query in my mind. Something was confused, but what? _Guess this thing can hear my thoughts._I feel a distance sense of rightness, as if something telling me "yes" _Alright then, can you slow the information down somewhat, or at least give it to me differently?_I feel confidence emanating from somewhere in my mind, as if something was thinking "of course I can_!" "I will simply tell you the information, though this way is far slower, with some parts of the information losing context,"_ says the voice I heard earlier. _"Then do so please."_ _"As you wish. You are now the Overmind of the Zerg Swarm 163.3405.05.5546.49567.07, which is formatted as . -System." __"That is quite the lengthy name, could it be changed?"__ "As the Overmind commands, the swarm obeys. What do you wish this swarm to be called?" "__I need to learn more about what a Zerg is first"__ "Very well, the Zerg are a hive intelligence species that is focused on the acquisition and use of improved sources of DNA, with Zerg separated into different swarms to improve the acquisition of DNA in any part of the universe through competition." __"So Zerg fight Zerg to evolve?"__ "Not necessarily, there are other beings then Zerg, as well as natural calamities that need to be overcome. When one swarm fights another, it is usually to steal DNA sequences or to wipe out the competition." __"Wouldn't one Zerg swarm eventually overcome all others?"__ "Yes, but the universe is infinite, and could end before such a thing happened." __"Great, it is nice to know that the only thing stopping the Zerg is the end of the universe."__ "Which may or may not ever happen. To continue on, a swarm is headed by an intelligent individual called the Overmind." __"So I'm the leader of the Zerg?"__ "No, the Overmind controls the will of a swarm, but don't forget that there are other swarms. Of course, an Overmind can potentially split his/her/its swarm into different broods. These broods are still part of an individual swarm, but are headed by Cerebrates. Cerebrates can be any being that is integrated with the swarm but has an individual consciousness. The Zerg can grow Cerebrates if required." __"So I could delegate things, interesting, but what would I use to fight other species or Zerg?"__ "The Zerg are functional due to the different DNA sequences it has acquired and modified, and the Zerg uses this DNA to create clones of whatever it wants. This includes soldiers, spaceships, scientists, workers, philosophers, and everything in between. To answer your very first question, the hatchery hatches larva that can be manipulated to morph into any kind of Zerg, given the appropriate amount of energy. " __"Wait, wait, wait, I took basic physics, and I know you simply can't create mass, in this case a Zerg, without having some mass already. Where do you get said mass?"__ "The Zerg simply manipulate the energy and transform it into mass." __"You're telling me that to create more Zerg I need the utterly massive amounts of energy to form matter?!"__ "All hatcheries, and the buildings they can mutate into, contain special organs that create a catalyst for such a reaction and put it into the larva. This catalyst drastically reduces the amount of energy needed." __"How do I get energy then?"__ "You can consume material with creep. Creep is produced by hatcheries, creep tumors, and, for a limited time, from the Overmind. There might be other ways to get energy or spread creep of course, but that is the only way that this swarm knows how to do so at the moment. You can devise other ways yourself." __"Alright, so the Zerg are incredibly more highly advanced compared to the human race. This is nice to know." __"Why? You are no longer human." __"Don't be silly, of course I am! I can breathe, eat, die, sleep… … … I couldn't fall asleep before…"__ "Sleeping is for the resting of the body, and Zerg are continually filled with energy with no need to rest. You can't even die, so long as there is still some of your swarm left. The swarm will give you energy to preserve you above all else, killing itself in the process is necessary. You can always start anew, but only if your alive." __"So I can't even die if I play my cards right? Okay, that's a nice bonus. How would I expand my swarm, in the interest of not dying?"__ "Make hatcheries, spread your swarm, consume all threats. __"Okay, fair enough. I now have a name for my swarm. We are the Azerin (pronounced Azz-er-in)."_

With this end note, I disconnect my hand from the spire. I look around and notice the depressions on the walls are now covered with the same kind of cocoon that the hatchery came from, but formed around the depressions, and stopping before the dividers of skin._ Bet that would be the larva I learned about. They might take a while to grow though, so let's go check outside and see what time of day it is, can't have been in here that long. _I step out of the chamber, head back up the tunnel, into the dawn of a new day. _Okay, so maybe it took awhile. _I walk to the edge of the dune, and see that the creep has completely covered it and is starting its way over ground toward the next one. _Wonder how for a hatchery spreads creep. "1 mile at the start, but more creep can be made with more energy." __"Hey, I thought I had to access information at the spire thing where you are."__ "I am nothing but an informational download that all Overminds get upon their access to their first hatchery. You have now grown accustomed to this sort of contact for this information to be put directly into your brain. I am not alive." "Alright then, but you sure act sentient. No matter, no point in trying to understand what is currently incomprehensible." _I felt a new presence in my mind then, something new, and weak. _Maybe that means a larva has hatched! _I head back in the hatchery to find out.

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A/N: Thanks for the continued reading! I am trying to find my pace in writing right now, and it can be very variable at which times I update. Should I update very often with short snippets, or should I wait a week until I have what I have written gathered, and release a larger chapter all at once? Up to the community. I keep updating whenever I write for now. I get very annoyed with other writers and their update schedules, so maybe a lot of short updates isn't so bad. Gets me in a routine that happens more often. Anyways, I might or might not have the next 1,000 or so words up tomorrow, but don't count on it (work will always interferes, but hey, I get paid.

P.S. I found some, but not all, of my errors in grammar and spelling. Also, I refined some of my concepts a little bit. In my defense, I was done writing this at 3:42 am EST. Also, I have a new-found hate of the Doc Manager, and it's spell and grammar checker. I will say something about the refining of my concepts in the next chapter, so all readers who don't want to go through this and find the three or so sentences I changed don't have to.

P.S.S. I realized that I didn't even stick with my own writing system for the characters thought patterns. As I said before, it was a little too early for me. I fixed what I could find. It should make for a much easier read now. Put in some reviews helping me fix one's I missed if your particularly mad about them. For now, any mistakes that are still there are probably going to stay there. I know for a fact that some of my quotation marks got deleted in the transfer to the Doc Manager, I checked the original copies from Microsoft Word. Once again, damn you Doc Manager. Also, while this won't come up for awhile yet, I may have to change the rating of the story to "M" for intense violence. I will be describing battles in detail, but battles are a little ways away (no too far, of course).


	6. The First Real Zerg

**Chapter 4**

I almost run inside the hatchery. I mean, come on, how often do you get to witness the birthing of an alien? I come into the birth chamber just in time to see the cocoons around the birth areas release their contents. Besides all the goo and flesh of the cocoon, which rapidly disappear into the floor and ceilings, there are what appear to be giant centipedes. They crawl out of their birth areas, and climb across the floor, milling around. They had eyes located on the curve of their head, facing up and out, with large interlocking scales wrapped completely around it. I would say they are about 3 feet long, and have black carapaces, with orange eyes. In other words, they were very creepy. "_These are your larva, Overmind. The hatchery makes 15 every 3 hours, with no limit on the amount it can contain at any one time. When the birthing chamber starts to get too full, which is about 650, the larva are allowed to spread out on the ground outside the hatchery. The oldest larvas are the first ones outside. The larva brain only knows how to eat and excrete waste. All waste is pulled into the creep for more energy, with the new energy in turn feeding the larva. They contain what humans call viruses. All the viruses are dormant, and each one contains the ability to morph the larva into something else. For instance, you can activate one virus that turns the larva into a soldier." __"What types of soldiers can I make right now?" __"You can produce zerglings, which are very fast shock troops. They have a pack instinct and prefer to group up on one enemy at a time. This instinct is comparable with the Earth's wolves. Also, each larva transforms into two zerglings at a time. To make it easier for your brain to comprehend, it takes 50 "units" of energy per larva to make two zerglings." __"How many units of energy to I have, and how much am I making?"__ "Your creep can consume 1 ton of matter to produce a unit of energy. This is what I have calculated is easiest for you to understand. You could have one unit equal one gram of matter, if you prefer, but then the numbers on what it takes to create anything starts to get very, very large." __"No, it's alright; keep it the way it is. Consume enough sand beneath us to turn all of these larvas into zerglings."__ "Before I obey, please keep in mind that the zerglings build dens for themselves in the creep, and the zerglings society only allows for 100 zerglings per den. While these dens can get bigger, they zerglings will need your help in building one at that point. Most of the den is underground, so they don't take up too much space." "__Can't I just order them to stand around, waiting for my orders? It seems that if I am the Overmind, they'll just have to get use to the idea of not doing anything unless I say."__ "You can do this, and have infinite amounts of zerglings, but they tend not to fight as well without it. It is up to the individual Overminds to decide which way to lead their swarm." __"I'll let them have their dens, and build bigger ones for them as necessary, but if I'm in a really bad situation, with needing lots of soldiers, I'm going to build however many I damn well need."_ These zerg are supposed to serve me, after all. _"I'm sure the zerglings will appreciate what you will do for them. I am now initiating the process for 30 zerglings. This can take 5 hours to complete, 7 minutes more or less." _The hatchery started shaking, and move downwards. "_What's happening?" __"The sand below this hatchery is being consumed by the creep." __"Stop, take some of the sand from a larger area, so we'll only move down a little bit!"__ "The Overmind commands and we obey." _The falling motion stopped. _Well, who said that my informational friend here was so smart, digging the hatchery into the ground!_ _Better see how bad it is outside._With that, I move toward the tunnel and walk out. The swish of the door, and then… nothing new looking. "Huh, this is weird."

I walk out and look around. The creep mound still seems like it is the same size, but there was a small depression that the hatchery was now in. "Maybe that would help if something attacked us, but it just isn't noticeable enough to really make a large difference in any battle." _Maybe I should have let the hatchery make a crater. So that the zerg can use the ridge as cover while any enemy tries to climb up. When the enemy reaches the ridge, they will appear only so many at a time. Better yet, change the dune so that it loses the arms, and look like a real mountain. Make the slope really steep, making it almost impossible to climb! Though ... I suppose I would rather an enemy not know where my only hatchery is at the moment. All that would be in the future though; I will need to have an energy use before I consume that much sand anyways. Maybe I could make an artificial mound made of pure creep._ With that speculation I turn towards the sun, and watch it travel in the sky. _What have I done here? I'm apparently no longer human, and am creating an army that will eventually encounter other creatures and kill them. What is the point of this all? I have no real purpose yet, except to expand my swarm. It just isn't enough. I have no idea where I am, with no idea how to get back home. Am I even on Earth? There was one sun and one moon, but that could be anywhere in an infinite universe. I can guarantee I'm no where in the U.S., as I at least I would have seen a few planes, so checking for familiar constellations that I don't even remember clearly from 3__rd__ grade won't help me. You know what John? Let's just go out an explore. Find something, anything. Find people, no matter who they are, and interact. I just need to have some purpose besides the monotony this little adventure is becoming. Something far less intelligent than I could simply build hatcheries and spread creep…_I continue my thoughts until they are rudely interrupted some time later. _"There is ten minutes remaining until the first zerglings are born." __"Alright, I'm coming in."_ _Maybe this will make things a little purposeful for me. Cheer up, who knows; maybe you'll like conquering planets! _

Into the hatchery I go, with a little more briskness than when I walked out. I wait around a little longer before seeing the first cocoon pops, and out comes two things from nightmare. I jump back, ready to run away at the slightest provocation, but then my mind jumps back into control. _Relax, these are my troops, they won't hurt me._ Not very comforted, I move up to get a better look at them. They were completely identical, and very scary. The zergling's height was up to my waist. It had 4 legs, with knees like I would expect, except they were filled of muscle and bone, with no fat. The body was reptilian, with scales interlocking just like the larva. These scales were quite larger, and made of bone. _Bit like plate mail of medieval knights, but far more_ effective. There was a tail as well, porbably used for balance and not actual fighting. It had armor as well, but the armor plates got smaller as the tail did. The head came off a long neck, and it was something to behold. The zergling's head was one bone plate with a ridge down the middle. The ridge ended into an in-drawn snout, a bit below the eyes. The eyes looked forwards, and were pure red, with no pupils I could see. The mouth was full of serrated teeth, and had two layers one shorter one behind the first. Its jaw had two pieces of bone stuck out that curved upwards into a cutting edge. As if this wasn't enough, there were two thin arms that were folded against its breast. Each ended abruptly into two claws made of bone. These claws were 2 feet long, and had a serrated edge. The arms had an elbow, giving them much greater mobility in combat. _I will control thirty of these bad boys?! Nothing is going to stop me. Except maybe an armored division, but how will they kill me if their supply line is cut by raiding parties of zerglings? They'll either pull back, run out of ammunition, or starve to death, whichever comes first. Suppose they could air-drop supplies. Oh well, hope I never have to deal with an armored division anyways._ The two zerglings I was studying moved out and headed out of the hatchery. _Damn, those things can __**move.**_ I run after them, but they are already out the door. By the time I get outside they are digging something about 6 feet away from the hatchery. I look out with my mind and see into one of the zergling's brain. _Didn't know I could do that.__Cool._I heard one overriding that from the zerg, _Home._ _Must be digging a den, how the hell they knew they didn't already have one is beyond me. Maybe they looked around before I got out here. They can move pretty fast I suppose, but still._ Something rushes past me, and, almost before I could blink, there was two more zerglings helping dig. _The rest is starting to hatch._ As if summoned by my mind, the rest of the zerglings pour out of the hatchery and start to dig in, literally. _"Hey informational download, or whatever you call yourself, how long will it take for them to complete their den?" __"About 20 minutes," _came the reply. _Guess I got time to kill._

I wander back into the hatchery, and look at the larva that were produced while I waited for the zerglings. _"What else can I make from these larva right now?" __"You can make drones, which will morph into buildings or gather mass and DNA from areas your creep hasn't spread to, as well as overlords, which are command and control zerg used to help you delegate your orders. Overlords are also better tacticians then most other zerg, so they can fight a battle better then, say zerglings, could on their own." __"Do any of them need their own areas, like the zerglings do with their dens?"_ "_Overlords constantly patrol your territory covered by creep, until ordered to do something specific, however, the drones will want a hive for themselves." __"Make 5 drones and 2 overlords please."_ _"It is done." __"How long will it take?"__ "It will take a full day for the overlords, and 6 hours for the drones." __Hey, no noticeable movement this time, nice.__"Alright, warn me when the drones are almost done."_ I watch 7 larva dig into the very flesh of the hatchery, and soon had their own cocoons growing. _I should have paid more attention last time, when the zerglings were ordered. Oh well, guess I was preoccupied. _I walk out to check on my zerglings progress, and am surprised to see that there is now a hole in the ground, that has a tunnels the slopes down and then out of sight. _Maybe I'll investigate another day, when all the zergling are gone, and I have a flashlight. And maybe a few bodyguards._

I turn back towards the sun, and check its progress. _A lot done today, guess I should be proud, zerglings for breakfast, drones lunch, and overlords tomorrow. What am I going to do in the meantime? You know what? "Hey information download. I am no longer going to call you that. Sentient or not, your going to have a name. Your name is Einstein." __"What reference are you putting me under?" __"Einstein was a famous scientist of the human race who was very intelligent and who had lots of information." __"It is a good of choice as any," _says the newly dubbed Einstein. _"I want every larva produced by tomorrow to be ordered into zerglings in batches, but the current 8 are to be left alone for my usage later." __"It will happen as you say." __"Good, and while that is going, all sand consumed for energy should allow for the dune to be arranged like this." _I send a mental picture of my mountain-with-crater-at-top idea. Great thing about mind communication that. I can send pictures, videos, thoughts, or even emotions. "_It shall be done." "__Of course it will, I'm the Overmind."_

* * *

A/N: Some of you might be thinking about the potential suddenness of the gain of energy. As long as you had mass, you could potentially create infinite zerglings without worrying about energy. This works for a desert environment, where no one cares about the sand. This will change when this swarm hits other areas. Not all the desert will be used up, but that is all I'm saying about the matter. Hopefully this will put the idea of an impossible to stop swarm out of your head, but if it doesn't, keep reading. Of course, please keep reading anyways. I look at all the reviews, and am trying to respond with the developments in the story. Have a good day everyone, and hopefully any mistakes I made and didn't notice, you won't notice either. Alas, if that fails, please write me a review detailing what I missed. Thank you in advance! Also, 1,000 views! Thank you all for taking your time and reading my first story I have ever written!


	7. The Interesting Day

**Chapter 5**

I have had an interesting day. My 5 drones were born with the rising of the sun. Kind of poetic, as the creation of these creatures showed me the way to bring the rise of the zerg on the planet. They looked liked nothing else I had ever seen before. They had winds, but they apparently didn't fly. They had many short legs centered underneath their body. These legs reminded me of a centipede. All 5 moved to the ground outside the hatchery, and the started to tear up the creep. They made a big pile of the stuff, about my height with a diameter of 5 meters. They then created an entrance hole for themselves in this mound. Curious, I look inside the entrance and see that there is a drone sized tunnel that starts to slop downwards almost immediately, but not as steep as the zergling den's tunnel.

The zerglings were all in their den at the time, but then I sent them, all 60, to go explore, but to stay within a 5 mile radius.

"_Einstein, what structures can I turn the drones into right now?"_I send out telepathically.

"_You can build basic defenses right now, my Overmind. There is a wall-like building that is mostly creep, but far more durable. Whenever something needs to get through, and if that something isn't hostile, the wall will submerge into the creep on the ground until whatever has gained access is inside. Every piece of wall is 1 meter long and 7 meters high, and this costs 75 energy. For obvious reasons, this unit is called a Wall."_

"_Your other building is a primitive sentient projectile launcher. It grows bone spikes on itself, and shoots them at enemies within 1000 meters, provided they have line of sight. The Spike Thrower, as it is known, can sense enemy ground troops on the creep, allowing for any enemy to be detected and targeted."_

"_Hmm…"_ I prepare a mental map of an enemy rushing my mountain (which has yet to be, as I haven't used up near enough sand yet), and try to see where the best spot of these defenses would be. Any enemy first has to climb the slop… How about setting up the wall at the base of the mountain, about 500 meters from it? Any attacker would be forced to climb this, come down, and then charge forward and up the slope of the mountain. I, of course could walk through, and the enemy has no gate that they could attempt to breach. This would allow Spike Throwers, placed at the base of the mountain, to have an angle of the enemy dropping down from the wall and coming up the slope, while stopping some of the enemy ranged attacks from returning fire on the opposite side of the wall. Since this will force any ranged combatants to get over the wall, they will be easy pickings. When they come over, there will be zerglings lying in wait. Of course, the Spike Throwers would still contribute, and the enemy could still force their way up with enough numbers. The wall will stop any vehicle but a tank. I'll make the wall let anything coming towards the wall with enough force be allowed come through, and then have the wall re-grow behind it, still blocking smaller vehicles.

"That will work for now, until I come up with something better or until I gain new soldiers and defenses, allowing for a different strategy," I think aloud.

With my mental map prepared, spacing the Spike Throwers 25 meters apart, I send the design to Einstein. _"How long would it take to produce this?"_

"_Stopping all zergling production in favor of drones, this could be completed in 2 months. This would also use up enough energy that the mountain will really start taking shape."_

"_I can't afford to wait that long, or stop my zergling production. Make 8 larvas into zerglings, and the rest into drones for this project. Also, after the current batch of zerglings is complete, let those 15 larva stay larvas, and start this new production schedule with the batch after that one. Take the 5 drones I have now and put them at equl intervals at the rim of the dune."_

"_The orders are accepted," _says the monotone Einstein_. _

I then felt a warning in my mind. Something was wrong, but what? One of my zerglings was pressing into my mind, and showed me what he was seeing.

The Zergling was on a low, narrow dune, watching a group of objects travel across the sands. I ordered the Zergling closer, and the objects soon became more then just objects. It was a group of camels, complete with riders. They were many camels of there, numbering 43, not including pack camels some of the other camels were leading. The people were dressed in light cloth that wrapped around them completely. The overall color was grey, but here and there I could see brown, red, black, and all the other colors. The people leading and the people trailing the group was armed with weapons. I could see that they all had guns, but some also had scabbard at their belts, indicating swords as well. Just as I was about to pull out the Zergling, there was some shouting and pointing in the Zergling's direction. I ordered the zergling to run back to base, and get out of there as quick as it could. I checked with my other zerglings and found one that was near the location, and sent it to track the group, but with orders to take whatever precautions necessary to not be seen, even if it meant losing the group. I then ordered all other zerglings back to base.

The group didn't deviate from its path, but they did move more slowly. I expected it was because they were being far more cautious then before. I waited for night to fall, and the group to stop.

During my wait the overlords hatched.

"_How may we serve you, Overmind?" said both of them together._

They had a deep voice, but it was loud in my mind. They were monstrous looking. They were like giant floating balloons, if balloons were made of flesh, had eyes, and were shaped more oblong like. Also, most balloons don't have a red-grey color. There was 4 squid like tentacles that came down from the corners of their body.

"_You can talk?"_

"_Of course, Overmind, how else would you tell us your decisions?"_

"_Okay then, I see your point."_

"_What would you have us do?"_

"_One of you watch the zergling trailing the group of people, and make sure that the zergling is cautious. Stay above the clouds to stay out of sight. The other, hover over the hatchery, if you will."_

"_As you command."_

One of the overlords floated of into the distance, and the other went to the hatchery. I tried to access the overlord body, as was surmised by what I found. They could see in 360 degrees through the entire spectrum of light! They did this by literally moving their eyes to any spot where there was flesh on their bodies.

"Okay, so this is cool."

"_Go ahead and patrol the territory, until I have further need of you."_

"_Yes, Overmind."_

* * *

"_Overmind! The group has apparently stopped for the night! What are your orders?"_

I look through the eyes of the Overmind, and see a camp made in the sand, with fires starting. _"Hold position, I'm headed out your way."_ With that, I grabbed 25 zerglings as body guards, and walked off into the night.

* * *

A/N: I know it has been awhile since I updated. I've been trying to figure out how to place this part of the story, considering how bad (in my opinion, no one else's so far) parts of my last chapter were. Since I already royally screwed up, here is my template so far:

Zergling: 50 Energy; 5 Hours

Drone: 25 Energy; 6 Hours

Overmind: 100 Energy; 24 Hours

Wall: 100 Energy; 3 Hours

Spike Thrower: 200 Energy; 9 Hours

I have been using this template in my writing, but didn't actually explain all of it, so here it is. Besides this, I want to hold a little competition of sorts. I want the community to come up with ideas on Zerg bases, in-depth using what I have already created as an idea of what you can do (ie. alter terrain, Walls, Spike Throwers, and the good old regular Zerg defenses from Starcraft one, two, or both. It should contain three hatcheries, and be developed to fight of other Zerg that have Zerlgings and Hydralisks. This should be based in a heavy snow climate in a huge mountain range. (If you have already figured out where this is, good for you! Now don't tell anyone! Just kidding about being rude, but seriously, please leave it for others to figure out, after all, its not that hard.)

Like all authors, I love the reviews, and look for to reading the ones of this chapter. I know it is short, but bear with me, we're getting to the good part.

On a side note, I know I made mistakes here, and anyone who points out grammar/inconsistencies/errors will have my thanks. Please be detailed about where the mistakes are at by chapter and paragraph (and what the mistake was, obviously). Thank you for taking the time to read this.

Good luck to you and yours, this is Torlo50, out.


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